The radio in the Humvee crackled.
'Dare! Are you all right? Dare, what happened?'
'That's our pilot, Captain Wainwright,' Peabody said.
'Dare! Airman Peabody! Come in!'
Brad grabbed the mouthpiece.
'Captain, Dare's got a bump on his noggin, but he'll be OK.'
'Who is this?'
'This is Brad. I'll get back to you in a minute. We're trying to get this SUV out of a hole.'
'What do you mean? What's going on?' Captain Wainwright continued to call, but Brad was right. They didn't have time to waste explaining the situation.
'This isn't working,' Kai said to Brad, 'Try turning the wheel to the left. The hole doesn't look as steep on that side. If you can get the whole Humvee down in there, you might be able to climb out.'
'Are you crazy?' said Chuck. 'He'll stall out if he gets the whole thing down there.'
'Shut up!' Kai said. 'Brad, what do you think?'
'It's worth a try. I might be able to get out doing what I was doing, but not in time.'
Brad cranked the wheel to the left and floored the gas. The Humvee rotated a little to the left and then stopped.
'It's stuck on something. Everybody push on the back left of the truck. Even you, Chuckles. If I spin the wheels, the traction should be low enough on this mud to push it.'
'This is a waste of time,' Chuck said, although he lined up on the left rear fender with the rest of them except for Lani and Mia. 'This thing must weigh a couple of tons.'
'Ready?' Brad said.
'Yes!' They all yelled, their feet planted as firmly as possible.
'Start pushing as soon as I gun it.'
Brad revved the engine and then dropped the clutch. The water didn't spray right at them because he had the front wheels turned, but they were getting soaked anyway from the backsplash on the undercarriage. The back wheels started spinning, and that was their cue to push.
'Go!' Kai yelled. He pushed, using up whatever adrenaline he had left. This was their one chance out of here, and he wasn't leaving anything in reserve.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Kai was about to let up when he heard Brad yell.
'It's working!'
That gave Kai an extra burst of energy, and finally he felt the back end give. The rotation of the Humvee accelerated, and the rear right wheel slipped off the concrete.
'Come on, baby!' Brad yelled.
Then the left rear reached the edge of the hole. They gave one last heave, and with a big splash, the back end of the Humvee dropped into the hole.
Brad didn't let up on the gas, and after an agonizing moment when it seemed like the Humvee would bog down, it sprang forward and launched itself out of the muck.
Everyone let out a whoop of joy, and Brad leaned out of the window.
'Anyone want a ride?'
Kai put Mia in the back seat and jumped in the passenger seat next to Brad. The rest of them climbed into the rear.
When they were all aboard, Brad jammed the pedal to the floor, and they hurtled forward.
'Why don't you let the Captain know we're on our way? I'd better keep my eyes on the road.'
Kai picked up the transmitter.
'Captain, this is Kai Tanaka, one of the people you so kindly agreed to pick up. We're out of the mud and on our way.'
'Good. What's your ETA?'
'I think it took Peabody about two minutes to get here, so I'm guessing the same for the trip back. Captain, can you see if the water is receding?'
'What?'
'Captain, I'm the Director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. If you can see the shoreline moving seaward, that means the tsunami is almost here.'
There was silence on the other end for a second, as if they were discussing something. Then he came back on.
'Uh, Mr. Tanaka,' Wainwright said. 'The shoreline is so far out, I can hardly see it. Make it quick. I mean real quick.'
'You better believe it,' Brad said.
Brad followed the tracks that Peabody had made getting to them as closely as he could, knowing that the path was safe. It was the bumpiest ride Kai had ever experienced, and the people in the back were thrown around viciously.
After another minute, they were back on smooth concrete, and it was a straight shot to the plane directly in front of them.
'Look at that,' said Peabody. The sight was familiar to everyone else, but he was in awe at seeing it for the first time. In the distance, the ocean rose precipitously. Kai had lost track of time, and now they were out of it. The massive tsunami kept climbing into the air as it rushed toward the runway. It looked like it was about a half mile from the end of the runway where the C-130 sat.
Captain Wainwright came back on.
'Do you see that, Mr. Tanaka?'
'We see it. How long will it take you to lift off the runway from a dead stop?'
'It'll take a little longer because of the state of the runway. Maybe 30 seconds.'
Kai did the mental calculation. Without time to analyze the data, he couldn't be sure of anything. But he couldn't take the chance, and so he made the call. He tried to sound convincing.
'Start your takeoff roll now,' Kai said.
'What? But you're less than a 300 yards away! We're not leaving without you.'
'Believe me, I don't plan on you leaving us.'
'Then we'll wait.'
'Captain, you don't understand. Waiting will kill us all. If you don't start your takeoff roll right now, that plane will never get off the ground.'
Chapter 56
The C-130's propellers spun up to full speed in preparation for takeoff.
'Are you insane?' Chuck screamed. 'You just told him to take off without us!'
Kai ignored him.
'Listen to me, Captain,' he said, not only for Wainwright's benefit, but for everyone in the Humvee. 'We're going to come up behind you and jump on to the cargo door, so keep it lowered.' They couldn't drive on to the plane because, although the door was lowered, it couldn't contact the runway during takeoff. 'That way, you can take off as soon as we're all on board.'
'I get it. A running start. I'll keep the speed down as long as I can, but I've only got about 6000 feet of clear runway, and there's a big-ass hole at the end. We're on our way.'
The plane lurched forward and started moving down the runway. The Humvee was now only 200 yards behind and closing quickly.
'Let's change places,' Kai said to Brad.
'No way! You know I'm the better driver.'
